Whose Rights Matter?

February 27, 1989

Turkey has been chosen the most-favored nation for this year's Azalea Festival, the annual salute to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The celebration planned for April will include a number of activities designed to highlight the importance of Turkey to the Western alliance and to familiarize the public with Turkish culture.

That's well and good. Turkey is a staunch ally. But as the celebrations unfold, it won't hurt to keep in mind that Turkey has had a few problems putting into practice some of the ideals that brought other nations of the alliance together in the first place. The issue of human rights stands out.

Last month, Amnesty International accused Turkish authorities of routinely torturing political prisoners. Amnesty said that 250,000 people have been detained for political reasons in Turkey in this decade and that almost all of them were tortured. It said that more than 200 prisoners have died in custody, many as a result of torture.

Amnesty's figures can't be verified, but the organization is respected for its reports of human rights violations.

This report hasn't been given much attention, which is in keeping with the habit of downplaying such news when it involves a government with close ties to the United States. That can be politically expedient in the short run, but the long-term results can be catastrophic. Iran under the rule of the shah is a good example. The United States consistently ignored evidence of the shah's abuse of his own people, and everyone knows the results.

Yet when a report about human rights abuses involves a country like Nicaragua, it's used as evidence to help justify attempts to undermine the government. Daniel Ortega may be the bogyman of Central America, but it's hard to see how his treatment of political opponents would be much out of line with the standards set by some of our allies, past and present.

It's true that democratic movements and respect for human rights in countries like the Philippines and South Korea have prospered recently, and that the United States has helped. But so long as we celebrate alliances that include governments that lock up their own people for political reasons, there's work to be done.